Faculty
We are honored to introduce you to our amazing teaching staff:
Jo Anderson Jo Anderson is the wife of Brian and mother to Hannah, Abigail, Evangeline, and Weston. She has been educating her children at home for the past ten years, with much support from Brian. Jo became a Christian at the age of 25 and has devoted her Christian life to the teaching and discipleship of women and, more recently, children. Jo received a B.S. in Finance with a minor in Spanish from Northern Illinois University, and later a Master’s Level Certificate in Biblical Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She was on staff at Willow Creek Community Church for six years, involved in leadership development, discipleship, and Biblical teaching. Jo has a strong desire to help students develop a Christian worldview, defend their Christian faith, and express themselves eloquently, in both written and oral forms.
Linda Bryant Linda Bryant has been married to Ron for 31 years and has home schooled three children for the last 16 years following a literature-based curriculum. She has been a Christ follower since her youth, attended Wheaton College, and currently attends Willow Creek Community Church. Being exposed to excellent literature while home schooling, Linda has developed an interest in discovering history through literature. It also provides a vehicle to understand the human condition. It is her hope that students will grow in their love of learning through exposure to other times and places while reading and studying excellent literature. She is also passionate about the power of communication through words whether spoken or written.
Scott Bryant Born in Naperville, IL, Scott William Bryant received his Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology from Wheaton College. In addition to his undergraduate work, Scott has completed two masters degrees – first an MA in Christian Thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and the second an MA in Systematic Theology at Wheaton College. Scott began his professional career as a caseworker working with abused and neglected children. In 1998, he left the field of social work for a brief six-month tour as a missionary in the Red Light District of Amsterdam. Upon his return to the States, Scott went to work on behalf of the poor in the Developing World as a high-end fundraiser. More recently, following a four-year stint as a professional screenwriter, Scott served Tri-County Pregnancy and Parenting Services as the Executive Director charged with the oversight and development of the ministry. Scott has been married for ten years and has three young children. He has no dogs, nor cats, but would consider a pet fish if his family really, really wanted one. This is Scott’s fourth year teaching at C.C.
Jennifer Burns Jennifer is happily married to David Burns and the mother of three boys – Ryan, Bradley and Nicholas. Jennifer has been a Christian for almost eleven years after having been raised in a Jewish home and knowing all her life that something was missing. She attended Catholic Mass every Sunday while in college and fell in love with, David, the son of a Lutheran minister. She felt even more convicted about becoming a Christian after her son, Ryan, was born. With the wonderful guidance of her pastor, fellow parishioners and the education from a powerful class, Jennifer gave her life to Jesus. She has continued to grow in her faith as a member of the Village Church of Barrington. She believes strongly that her life’s purpose is found in Galatians 6:9-10 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” The philosophy courses that Jennifer took in college were some of her most favorite. However, when Jennifer told her parents that she wanted to major in philosophy they weren’t too happy. As a result, she took all of the philosophy courses she could and walked away with a degree in marketing. (Just in case you were wondering, her parents weren’t ecstatic with that choice either.) She is delighted to help teach students how to think logically and critically about the world around them. Jennifer has her master’s degree in Marketing from Northwestern University.
Amy Cataldo Amy is wife to Rob and mother to four children: Joshua, Abigail, Elizabeth, and Kathyrn. Since graduating from Tulane University in 1994 with a B.S. in Engineering, she has done a number of different jobs. Some of these include business and litigation consulting, teaching math in Chicago public schools, and starting a company from the ground up. Since getting married to Rob, she has been a full-time wife, and a full-time mom. She is an avid cook and has used this passion to write a cookbook and to teach others about Biblical eating. This will be Amy’s third year teaching at C.C..
Tammy Chapman Tammy received her B.S. in Physical Therapy from Bowling Green State University and worked as a Physical Therapist for nine years. During that time, she was privileged to work alongside her husband in planting their church. She always loved her healthcare career, but her greatest passions were teaching the Bible and shepherding people to help them grow in their relationships with Jesus. Having three children, her mother’s heart longs for her kids to love Jesus and His Word. She yearns for them to know the ways of the Lord, to be equipped to live for Jesus no matter what comes their way, and to be a beacon of Christ’s love and hope to this world. Tammy gave her life to Christ over 29 years ago. As a high school student, she was surrounded by passionate lay teachers and she fell in love with the Word of God. She is excited to foster this same passion into the hearts of our students as they study the Bible and encounter Christ together. Tammy has been married for over 20 years to her best friend and the person she admires most in the world, Scott. They have three beautiful children: Josiah, Charis, and Faith.
Somer Chevrier Somer graduated from Trinity International University in 2001, with an Elementary Education degree and a minor in music. After college she spent five years teaching 2nd Grade at Northwest Suburban Christian Academy in Lake Zurich. She has been happily married to her husband Ryan for almost 11 years and has three spirited children: Avielle, Anderson, and Ellie. Along with being a wife and a mother, Somer maintains her joy for music by teaching piano for the past six years. Somer has a deep desire and love for creating a positive learning environment for her students. She organizes her teaching methods to foster various learning styles. It brings her great joy and honor to promote a creative and encouraging classroom environment where she can share God’s love with her students.
Joelle Chidlow Joelle graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BA in Art. Joelle and her husband, Dan, have two daughters ages 19 and 12 years. She has been homeschooling for 14 years. Before becoming a mom, Joelle worked for Apple Computer for eight years as a Senior Financial Analyst and Incentive Representative. Joelle’s desire is to bring high caliber art instruction to home schoolers and encourage students to have a love for art. She wants to see those who have a gift for art develop that skill and for those who just have a love for art be able to excel beyond what they ever thought possible. She wants children to gain an appreciation of God as artist and creator through their keen observation of nature. In addition, Joelle wants children see the value and results that come patience and perseverance and pursuit excellence as they work through a project.
Melissa Cruz Melissa gave her life over to Christ and His service as a teenager, and then moved to Mexico at 18 to serve as a missionary with AIM. While in Mexico, Melissa taught English in the city prison and worked as a translator for missionaries and public events. It was there that she met missionary Ramiro Cruz, who later became her husband and the father of Israel Cruz. Melissa traveled to Barcelona for intensive training in the Spanish culture and language and also holds a degree in Bible/Educational Ministry from Moody Bible Institute. Melissa began teaching at C.C. in 2007, and has thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to teach in an environment that allows her to seamlessly integrate faith and reason within the paradigm of classical education.
Rachael Dadabo Rachael Dadabo received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish & Philosophy from Asbury University in 2003. She and her husband, Nick, married in 2003 and have two children: David and Geneva. She has been teaching languages for almost ten years, including Spanish, Latin, and ESL. In Literature class, Rachael enjoys seeing her students grow in their writing abilities and engage with great books. She has been teaching at C.C. since 2006.
Karen Doherty Karen is the wife of Ray and mom to eight children. Karen holds a B.S. in Economics – Finance from Bentley College. Her favorite subject all through her school years was math. She just loved the challenge of solving problems in Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus! More importantly, she appreciated God’s wisdom in using mathematics as the foundation of the many things we study today. She enjoys teaching in a Christian environment and hopes her students will appreciate and love math the way she does.
Angie Guillaume Angie Guillaume graduated from Taylor University in 1992 with a Secondary Education Degree in Mathematics. Soon after she married Jon Guillaume and moved back to Arlington Heights. Angie taught math at Niles North HS and Wheeling HS until their first child was born. Angie now enjoys home schooling her four children, Maddi, Cole, Cooper and Grace. She has also loved teaching Geometry again here at C.C.. This will be Angie’s fourth year teaching our students.
Dawn Haecker Dawn has loved words, pictures, and the making of pictures, since she was a child. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from Bowling Green State University. She has worked as an Art Director for a denominational magazine, as a book designer and illustrator, and as the Graphics Director for Willow Creek Community Church. She has also done numerous illustration projects as a volunteer for the children’s ministry at Willow Creek. She believes that studying the work of the Masters while at the same time practicing the fundamentals of art is one of the best ways to grow in skill and appreciation of Art. Dawn is the wife of Greg and mother to Hannah and Cole. She has been home schooling her children for the past seven years. Dawn became a Christian at the age of nine. Since then, she has been working on what Francis Schaeffer has called the Christian’s greatest work of art…her own life.
“No work of art is more important than the Christian’s own life, and every Christian is called upon to be an artist in this sense. He may have no gift of writing, no gift of composing or singing, but each man has the gift of creativity in terms of the way he lives his life. In this sense, the Christian’s life is to be an art work. The Christian’s life is to be a thing of truth and also a thing of beauty in the midst of a lost and despairing world. — Francis A. Schaeffer
Christine Hrinowich Christine Hrinowich is the wife of Tom and mother of five children. She has been home schooling since her eldest was in kindergarten. Christine has a Bachelor of Arts from DePaul University in Communications with a concentration in linguistics. Since high school she has enjoyed learning languages and has taken several years of Spanish and Latin. Her goal is to encourage the students to enjoy learning and discovering the use of language through Latin and Spanish.
Sally Huston History has always been Sally’s favorite subject in school as she learns more and more about God’s world through His Word and the events that shaped it. Sally is a mother to three amazing children (Andrew, Ryan and Amelia); her desire is for each of them, as well as her students at CC, to begin to develop a keen eye for God’s handprint on the world, whether it is 4,000 years ago or in this current day and age. Sally was called to the Lord at an early age and was blessed to grow up in a Christian home, where love for Jesus abounded. She graduated from Moody Bible Institute with a degree in Educational Ministry. Sally is thrilled to be married to her best friend and husband of 14 years, Steve. On the weekend, she worships and serves the Lord in the children’s ministry at Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, IL. This will be Sally’s second year teaching at the Classical Consortium.
Stephanie Ludwig Stephanie has been married to Chris since 1999 and is mother to three children, Nathan, Abigail, and Isaac. Stephanie graduated magna cum laude from North Central College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and a minor in Secondary Education. She taught Biology and Intro to Physics and Chemistry at Waubonsie Valley High School and 8th grade Science at Barrington Middle School, Station Campus. During that time, she also coached the dance squads at both schools and led her high school team to the state competition three years in a row, placing in the top five each year. Stephanie is a member of Fox Valley Church, where she loves serving the Lord as the Director of the Gospel Institute and the church’s wedding coordinator. Her hope is that through teaching science at CC, her students will agree, “Great are the works of the Lord, they are pondered by all who delight in them.” Ps. 111:2
Suzy Marshalla Suzy Marshalla is very excited to be teaching again this year. She has loved science since the sixth grade and credits her science teacher for encouraging her by listening to all her “discoveries”. She graduated from the University of Illinois-Urbana with a B.S. in Microbiology and a M.S. in Biology. She worked for over 12 years at Abbott Laboratories. She has three children of her own, and loves working with them. She has been a Girl Scout leader of two troops for over ten years. Suzy feels it is her calling to teach science to children. She wants the children to develop a curiosity about the world around them, so that when they walk out the door in the morning and look around them, they see the world with a little more understanding and awe.
Ching-Ching Rojas Ching-Ching Rojas received a BA in Applied Mathematics from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taipei, Taiwan. She also received an MA and completed the PhD course work in Applied Mathematics from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. She and her husband, George, started homeschooling in 1995, continuing until their children, David and Jessica, graduated from high school. A Christian since 1995, Ching-Ching is grateful that God has given her the opportunity to become a part of the homeschool community and to grow closer to Him by being involved in a Christ-honoring educational environment. Her goal in teaching is to build her students confidence so that they will enjoy and be proficient in math.
Nancy Rot Having grown up in a family of educators, it was quite natural for Nancy to follow in their foot steps. Nancy received her B.A. in Education and her M.A. in Technology Education from National-Louis University in Evanston. She taught 4th and 5th grade students in public school for twelve years. When Brad and Nancy married 20 years ago home schooling was not even a thought, but as the Lord continued to work in their lives the couple decided to home school their two children. The Rot family has enjoyed the home schooling journey for over ten years and was happy to join the C.C. family four years ago. Nancy enjoys bringing her faith into the classroom.
Jane Schwarz Jane Schwarz is married to her best friend, Joe Schwarz, and is the mother of Sarah, Mark and Matt. Jesus drew her to Himself when she was in her early teens. Since then she has desired to follow Him and study His Word. For the past ten years she has taught Latin and English Literature and AP Literature at Christian Liberty Academy, where she was also the head of the English Department. Prior to this she taught Latin at the Willows Academy. Jane loved home schooling her own children and now looks forward to teaching brilliant, inquisitive students. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Classics from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and attended seminary at Trinity Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Jane is passionate about teaching enthusiastic students. She loves W.B. Yeats’ quote, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” She anticipates being used fully by God in this coming year at C.C.
Peter Sipes Peter has been teaching Latin and Physics at Classical Consortium for four years. As a Latin teacher, he want to help students learn Latin--a language that sharpens students' rhetorical skills and vocabulary as well as serving as a foundation for the civilization of the Christian West. As a physics teacher, he wants students to see the wonder and glory of God's creation. He is a (mostly) stay-at-home father to two small children. Growing up in a Christian family, he accepted Christ as a young man. He graduated from Rockford College in 1996.
Angel A. Warner Angel has been a home school mom for twenty three years and began following the classical model around 1994. She has enjoyed being part of the CC learning community since its initial year. There isn’t a specific day she can name when she began following Christ, but always felt His call even as a child. Angel holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature with a minor in French from Olivet Nazarene University. She delights in all forms of literature, enjoys writing, and has something of a compulsion for studying classical languages---especially Latin! The other great passion of her life is helping children to see the beauty of the fabric woven by God throughout history and across academic subjects. Her desire is to help students to think biblically about every idea they encounter in their studies and to see their own lives as part of the “Great Story” penned by God.